The Man Who Gave Us Hope: In Remembrance of the Father of Permaculture, Bill Mollison (1928 to 2016)

With so many environmental, social, economic, and energetic issues and challenges facing humanity, it seems like our problems are beyond repair. Yet there was one man who clearly understood how the world’s problems could be solved. That was Bill Mollison. Mollison, along with co-founder David Holmgren, set out a clear guide and blueprint for moving forward sustainably, coining the term permaculture and co-founding the global permaculture movement.

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Mollison understood that the only way forward for humanity is to work in harmony with our natural systems. He and Holmgren developed a system of design that can effectively solve all the world’s problems. Since Mollison and Holmgren wrote the original book, Permaculture One, in 1978, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people have been trained as permaculture designers, trainers, and practitioners globally.

Considered the ‘father of permaculture,’ he understood the value of integrated systems of design that encompassed everything from agriculture, horticulture, architecture, and ecology, as well as economy and legal systems for businesses and communities. Much of the work he did focused on using patterns and mimicking natural ecosystems to provide self-maintaining habitat and regenerative ecosystems. These systems also produced significant yields in food, energy, and water. The overriding core tenets or ethics of permaculture are: Care for the Earth, Care for People, and Return of Surplus.

In conjunction with these ethics, Mollison included 12 principles that underscored the design concept and overall philosophy of permaculture:

The below quotes from Mollison illustrate his practical approach to sustainability and his deep understanding of the natural world. Rest in Peace, Bill Mollison…..

“Wealth is a deep understanding of the natural world.”

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“The tragic reality is that very few sustainable systems are designed or applied by those who hold power, and the reason for this is obvious and simple: to let people arrange their own food, energy and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them. We should cease to look to power structures, hierarchical systems, or governments to help us, and devise ways to help ourselves.”

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“Though the problems of the world are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.”

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“Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Without permanent agriculture there is no possibility of a stable social order.”

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“I teach self-reliance, the world’s most subversive practice. I teach people how to grow their own food, which is shockingly subversive. So, yes, it’s seditious. But it’s peaceful sedition.”

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“The greatest change we need to make is from consumption to production, even if on a small scale, in our own gardens. If only 10% of us do this, there is enough for everyone. Hence the futility of revolutionaries who have no gardens, who depend on the very system they attack, and who produce words and bullets, not food and shelter.”

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“Permaculture is a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.”

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“The American lawn uses more resources than any other agricultural industry in the world. It uses more phosphates than India and puts on more poisons than any other form of agriculture.”

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“If we lose the forests, we lose our only teachers.”

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“Permaculture principles focus on thoughtful designs for small-scale intensive systems which are labor efficient and which use biological resources instead of fossil fuels. Designs stress ecological connections and closed energy and material loops. The core of permaculture is design and the working relationships and connections between all things.”

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“The important thing is not to do any agriculture whatsoever, and particularly to make the modern agricultural sciences a forbidden area – they’re worse than witchcraft, really.”

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“We’re only truly secure when we can look out our kitchen window and see our food growing and our friends working nearby.”

Climate Change: Moving Beyond The CO2 Narrative & Seeing Planet Earth For What It Really Is

In Brief

New documentary called Regenerate: Beyond The C02 Narrative explores how we can truly regenerate our environment. The current mainstream focus on C02 is not the answer.

Reflect On:

Are we viewing the earth as a mechanical machine? Are we living in a society built on disconnection? Do we value maintaining the status quo more than creating a thriving life for all?

I have a new film I want to share with you, one that I was very passionate about creating because I believe it has the power to truly change the way we think about our environment.

I’ve been researching the topic of climate change for over 10 years, and the one thing I can honestly tell you, no matter what political side you are on or what you think the science says: the topic is very dizzying. No, it’s not as simple as the oil companies are faking science to show dangers to our climate are not as bad. No, it’s not as simple as lowering CO2 emissions, in fact, that is an incredibly misleading narrative. What we have to do is much different than that.

One thing I will say is this, many of the current propositions we see from governments, companies and mainstream media are designed to work within our economy. Economy first, environment second. They are also designed not to have humanity question their relationship with things like nature, money, life, who we are and why we are even here. They are designed to maintain the status quo. For that reason, they are often linear, mechanical ideas that disregard the true nature of the earth and the environment.

Those who have really gone deeply into the subject of climate change see this very quickly: you cannot simply solve our climate woes by planting more trees or lowering CO2 emissions, as you are just looking at one TINY aspect to the puzzle, and this direction won’t actually help the planet, it will only make us think we are helping.

Coming to these realizations over the last 10 years is what inspired me to create a film that would unite people. It’s a film that doesn’t argue about who’s to blame, what the causes of climate change are and so forth, it’s instead a film that looks at the core of the issue, and how we can actually create the changes that are needed at this time.

In short, the biggest challenge we face right now is that we live in a mindset and paradigm of disconnection and linear, mechanical thinking. This has led to the creation of a world that takes only individual parts into consideration, and not the whole. This thinking provides the experience of what it looks like to create from disconnected and destructive points of view. Sifting out of this thinking and state of being, into one of connection, is the challenge before us. When we do this, it will begin to reshape policy, choices, actions and creations that influence our world, way of living and how we relate to the earth.

Due to the Coronavirus lockdown everyone is experiencing right now at home, I’ve decided to make the film Regenerate: Beyond The CO2 Narrative, free for everyone to watch.

Below is a trailer to check out the film. If you wish to watch this film entirely, click here.

The Earth Day Documentary That Will Change Your Whole Perspective On Climate

In Brief

New documentary called Regenerate: Beyond The C02 Narrative explores how we can truly regenerate our environment. The current mainstream focus on C02 is not the answer.

Reflect On:

Are we viewing the earth as a mechanical machine? Are we living in a society built on disconnection? Do we value maintaining the status quo more than creating a thriving life for all?

It’s Earth Day, a time where we reflect on and consider what our relationship with the Earth is like. Are we in harmony with it? How do our daily actions affect it? What can we do to truly be in better relations with our earth, not so we can just sustain, but so we can truly thrive? Well, I have a new film I want to share with you, and it’s one that I was very passionate about creating because I believe it has the power to truly change the way we think about our environment.

I’ve been researching the topic of climate change for over 10 years, and the one thing I can honestly tell you, no matter what political side you are on or what you think the science says: the topic is very dizzying. No, it’s not as simple as the oil companies are faking science to show dangers to our climate are not as bad. No, it’s not as simple as lowering CO2 emissions, in fact, that is an incredibly misleading narrative. What we have to do is much different than that.

One thing I will say is this, many of the current propositions we see from governments, companies and mainstream media are designed to work within our economy. Economy first, environment second. They are also designed not to have humanity question their relationship with things like nature, money, life, who we are and why we are even here. They are designed to maintain the status quo. For that reason, they are often linear, mechanical ideas that disregard the true nature of the earth and the environment.

Those who have really gone deeply into the subject of climate change see this very quickly: you cannot simply solve our climate woes by planting more trees or lowering CO2 emissions, as you are just looking at one TINY aspect to the puzzle, and this direction won’t actually help the planet, it will only make us think we are helping.

Coming to these realizations over the last 10 years is what inspired me to create a film that would unite people. It’s a film that doesn’t argue about who’s to blame, what the causes of climate change are and so forth, it’s instead a film that looks at the core of the issue, and how we can actually create the changes that are needed at this time.

In short, the biggest challenge we face right now is that we live in a mindset and paradigm of disconnection and linear, mechanical thinking. This has led to the creation of a world that takes only individual parts into consideration, and not the whole. This thinking provides the experience of what it looks like to create from disconnected and destructive points of view. Sifting out of this thinking and state of being, into one of connection, is the challenge before us. When we do this, it will begin to reshape policy, choices, actions and creations that influence our world, way of living and how we relate to the earth.

Food Is The Problem & Solution: This Video May Knock Your Socks Off

South Central Los Angeles is notorious for its drive-by shootings, where shooters kill their victims without ever leaving their cars. And it’s also the home of drive-through restaurants where people eat fast food without ever leaving their cars.

Why does Ron Finley, the “gangsta’ gardener,” say that the drive-throughs are killing more people than the drive-byes?

Inner city communities often have little or no access to healthy food. As a result, people who live in these “food desserts” have extremely high rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and many other diet-fueled chronic ailments.

But now, here is a bright beacon of hope. Ron Finley feeds the hungry, and brings real food to the people that need it most. He grows not just vegetables, but also the very fabric of community itself.

When you watch this powerful video, you will, I am certain, be deeply inspired.

Prepare, frankly, to get your socks knocked off.

It’s Time For A Food Revolution

The world is changing fast with disruptions of food, commerce and social connection altering our lives in profound ways. This global pandemic makes one thing abundantly clear: Your health needs to be a priority. Not just someday, but right now.

Among the major risk factors for infections of all kinds, including coronaviruses, are obesity, heart disease, asthma, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. The modern American diet is a recipe for the very conditions that make you vulnerable!

We don’t want you or the people you love to be victims of a toxic food culture. Especially not now. We want to help keep you safe.

During the Food Revolution Summit, you’ll get the most up-to-date research and information about food, nutrition, disease prevention, immune health, and environmental stewardship.

Join the free 2020 Food Revolution Summit to get the most up-to-date research and information about food, nutrition, disease prevention, and environmental stewardship from 25 of the top food experts on the planet. It’s a virtual event — so you can join from anywhere in the world.

Click here to find out more about the summit and to reserve your spot today.